Coming off another five-set thriller from the night before, the Weber State University volleyball team had the daunting task of taking on the conference leader, the University of North Dakota, on Saturday. The Wildcats were hoping to build on the success and confidence they had gained in the past week, but UND had other ideas. The Wildcats pushed UND to its limits, but eventually fell in four sets (25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-16), putting their record at 7-21 and 3-11 overall.

The Wildcats couldn’t overcome a slow start, as UND used a 7-1 run and a stagnant defense to propel itself early on. But WSU’s Rebecca Fuchs and Shanae Burgin wouldn’t let them run away with the match that easily, using back-to-back spikes to garner some momentum.

Those were the type of plays that helped WSU chip away at the lead and slowly get the momentum on its side. That helped launch a 4-0 run that brought the Wildcats as close as 22-24. But after a UND timeout, the set was finished, as UND finished off the set that was slowly slipping away from it.

In the second set, the Wildcats gave UND an early lead, 10-3. Once again, they continued to chip away, but it seemed they would shoot themselves in the foot with a service error. Those errors were just enough to give the second set away.

Fuchs and Audrey Biggs were able to get the offense going later in the match, but it was just too little too late.

The Wildcats had had enough of letting UND lead; they took their first lead of the match in the third set as the result of strong play from Samantha Staker and Biggs. The whole offense seemed to find a groove in that set, as Megan Bean was able to blast the ball past the outlying arms of the UND defense.

It was a total team effort to win the set as UND came back with a fury of kills in blocks, but Katie Harvey put an end to that with a block. UND once again made a surge, which forced a timeout by WSU coach Tom Peterson, but WSU promptly finished the set after that.

Peterson said he liked what he saw from his team and knew he needed to make some changes to get UND out of the groove it was in.

“The third set was really nice for us,” Peterson said. “In comparison, they are the best team in the conference, and I think, from that set, we realized we aren’t that far behind them. Better passing, better everything for a longer period of time is something we are still working on. We made some changes in that third set, and I think it worked out nicely for us. We took it to them that set.”

Going into the fourth set, the Wildcats seemed poised to take it to five sets, but UND gained a lead at the first of the set. Even with terrific efforts from Staker, Burgin and Biggs, the Wildcats were unable to get past a 7-1 run in the middle of the set, leaving them in a 11-13 deficit. When it was all said and done, UND finished off the set and match on a 12-5 run.

Biggs once again led the Wildcats with another stellar performance, 14 kills and nine digs. Her partner in killing, Fuchs, added 12 kills and seven digs. Staker had 21 assists, while Hunt had 19 and McKay Tarbox contributed 15 digs.

Burgin, who added seven kills and has played a big role in the past two matches, seemed to have found her groove with the offense and given the Wildcats another weapon on the attack.

“After a shaky start, I told myself to just play and let the game flow,” she said. “It just felt normal, which (is what) you hope for when you play. In that third set, I was able to get into position, and it just felt good. We are so close to beating teams like that; if we just eliminate small mistakes, then we would be just as good.”

The Wildcats will now head on the road as they travel up to the Big Sky state to take on Montana State University on Friday, then the University of Montana on Saturday.